pics from new house tut

Here are a couple of pics from the new house tut I am working on.
I still have a lot of details to workout and I am trying to simplify the whole process as much as possible.
Still need to add some stairs, porch rails, rain gutters and whole bunch of other stuff.
I have been switching back a forth between this model and one from another tut.
The other tut I will try to keep secret until it is ready.

Both of these new video tuts will be in series form and will be the complete models from start to finish.

This is only the rough draft of the house model.There are still many details to work out.
Some times I may model a project 3 or 4 times refining the details.
The doors are there, you just could not tell they were there in the AO render.

I did a little work on the house today. Mostly worked on a easy to use reference image ( the reference image will be available for download when the tutorial is complete. )

Ok, so I can not keep a secret from you guys, so here is a pic from the other project I am working on.

Ok, so I can not keep a secret from you guys, so here is a pic from the other project I am working on

Ya know...we should start doing threads on texturing.

When I first looked at the shotgun I thought it was a render, but then I saw something on the stock that made me realize it must be a photograph.

But then I FURTHER realized that if you make a texture map that has certain imperfections, a render could be made that would be indistinguishable from a photograph - and that, after all, is the holy grail for ANY modeller! :)

So after your shotgun mesh is tweaked to perfection, here are the 3 "imperfections" I see in the photo that you might want to try including in your texture maps:

1) The imperfect bluing on the gun barrel.
2) All the smudged fingerprints running up and down the barrel.
3) And this was my clue: That darkened narrow ovate section on the back of the handgrip. This is where the original shotgun stock was cut away revealing unfinished wood, which was subsequently darkened by skin oils through handling.

The challenge now becomes "How do we perfectly create imperfections in our texture maps?" :cheese:

Ok, so I can not keep a secret from you guys, so here is a pic from the other project I am working on

Ya know...we should start doing threads on texturing.

When I first looked at the shotgun I thought it was a render, but then I saw something on the stock that made me realize it must be a photograph.

But then I FURTHER realized that if you make a texture map that has certain imperfections, a render could be made that would be indistinguishable from a photograph - and that, after all, is the holy grail for ANY modeller! :)

So after your shotgun mesh is tweaked to perfection, here are the 3 "imperfections" I see in the photo that you might want to try including in your texture maps:

1) The imperfect bluing on the gun barrel.
2) All the smudged fingerprints running up and down the barrel.
3) And this was my clue: That darkened narrow ovate section on the back of the handgrip. This is where the original shotgun stock was cut away revealing unfinished wood, which was subsequently darkened by skin oils through handling.

The challenge now becomes "How do we perfectly create imperfections in our texture maps?" :cheese:

I plan to start doing some tuts on nothing more than creating custom textures for realism.
In the past I used Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop but just made the switch to Gimp, because it free and accessible to almost everyone.
So I have began to try to become as familiar with Gimp as I have been with PS and PSP.

Funny you should mention the bluing, I have started to mess around with creating that.
One of goals of My future tuts is to demonstrate how you can create models with a lower polycount and still have realism through the use of quality texturing. When I say texturing that would include the use of defuse, normal and specular maps.
A whole lot of details can be added through the use of texturing without adding a whole lot more geometry.

"indistinguishable from a photograph - and that, after all, is the holy grail for ANY modeller"
Yes, realism is great but for many pros , amateurs and artist in general, the ability to make you think deep or say "wow that is really cool" is what they are after. For everyone one it is different.
Many realistic images you see are not achieved with modeling skills alone but with good lighting and post processing.